Sweet Nothing
by disarranging
Summary: Lauren Cross is a recovering alcoholic with a fiery temper, living with, and working for, her Uncle Jack in Walford after leaving home. Joey's a professional boxer with issues of his own who moves to Walford to train on contract at Jack's Boxing Gym. In their own way, both pack a decent punch, but as they start to move closer, are they punching way above their weight? Joey/Lauren.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n:**** So, new story. Had the idea for a while now but life, as is always the case, got in the way of my writing it for a while. Hope you like it!**

**Just to clarify: Lauren and Joey are not cousin's in this. And Jack is a Cross, not a Branning. Just go with it; it will hopefully all make sense.**

Chapter 1

Jack Cross checked his watch for the fifth time in the last thirty minutes, scowling slightly at how late his newest boxer was. If he hadn't been having doubts previously about this new addition to the club, he was now. He had known from the off that taking on Joey Branning as one of his professionals was a risk, but, for want of not being a hypocrite, he had been determined not to let a somewhat unsavoury reputation stop him from giving the twenty-two year old boxer a chance to fight professionally. Besides, the boy was talented. Very talented. He just needed training by someone who could be patient with him…or so Jack had been telling himself.

And yet there he was, already losing his patience because of Joey's apparent tardiness. Not that this meeting really mattered that much; the contracts had already been signed. This was just a formality, a chance for Joey to see the gym properly, a chance for Jack to get to know him better, because he knew that a good rapport was everything for a strong team. His other two professional's, Tyler and Peter, were fairly easy to train; they got on with each other and pretty much did everything expected of them, first and foremost being good boxers and helping train the amateurs up well. In all honesty, Jack didn't really _need_ to take on another boxer. But Joey had caught his eye, and being slightly greedy as he was, he didn't want to let a chance of further success go amiss. So he signed him up, caution very much thrown to the wind.

The sound of the door handle turning broke Jack from his thoughts. He glanced up, surprised, when rather than it being his new, 6ft 1 boxing prodigy, his considerably smaller niece walked through the door.

"Alright, Lauren?" Jack called, smiling at her softly before rapping his finger against the window by his desk which looked out onto the inside of the gym, shaking his head as all action abruptly resumed. Lauren's preference for short dresses was always a sure-fire way to ensure that his boys were distracted from whatever they were doing. They either put on a testosterone-fuelled show for her, or went the absolute other way and just stopped working altogether in order to gawp at her like the idiots they all were.

"Wasn't expecting you here today," he told her; she normally took Fridays off. Once Lauren had come out of rehab, as well as offering her a place to live, Jack had offered her a job in the gym as well. Business had picked up and so he needed someone to help take care of the administration side of things - or tea-making side of things, of you were to ask Lauren - whilst he put more time into training the new additions to the gym, especially now that he had some proper talent to work with.

"Oh well, you know me," Lauren explained, shrugging dismissively as she dropped down onto the sofa at the back of the office. "I like to see what the local cavemen get up to of an afternoon."

Jack narrowed his eyes, absolutely not buying into her nonchalant tone and studying her face. If he wasn't mistaken, she looked a bit upset and on-edge; her eyes were slightly red and her shoulders hunched, almost as though she was curling in on herself. Since taking her in after her fight with her parents, Jack felt very protective of his niece, and if that brother of his had upset her again he would have to step in and have a word this time.

"Talk to me," he urged gently, leaning forwards against his desk and staring Lauren down until she rolled her eyes huffed, pulling her fingers through her hair distractedly.

"It's just Dad, ain't it?" she said, tediousness saturating her tone. "He has no faith in me whatsoever. I mean, I haven't touched a _drop_ of alcohol for over a year now, and yet he still thinks that I'll fall off the wagon every time something goes wrong."

Jack winced slightly at this. He could understand Max's concern – poorly expressed as it was – when Lauren had only just come out of rehab, but to continue it now when she had proved that she was taking her recovery seriously and was being nothing but strong was just out of order, in his opinion.

"_Has_ something gone wrong?" Jack asked, concerned.

"No! That's just it!" She laughed humourlessly. "But he's always waiting for it, ain't he?. Whenever I speak to him it's like he's surprised it's not a phone call to say 'Oh, I got drunk again, just like you said I would.'"

Giving her a moment to fume quietly, Jack took the time to choose his words carefully. He knew Lauren well enough to know that trying to make excuses for Max and Tanya wouldn't placate her, the same going for sympathetic words and glances. But he had to try; he was determined to try and stay neutral in this whole situation, to Lauren's face anyway...

"Look, I know it doesn't always seem like it, but it's only because he worries about you," he told her.

Lauren snorted derisively; she had heard it all before. And despite what Jack said, it _never_ felt like her dad was worried about her; his question was never 'how are you?', it was 'so you're still sober then?'. Arguing this point again was futile though; they had been there, done that. She knew she had upset her parents with the drinking, she knew she had embarrassed them by being an alcoholic; she knew because she felt the same way. And she was _trying_ to make it right, but there was only so much she could do.

Actually, there was only so much she _wanted_ to do at this point.

Jack went to try and convince her that she shouldn't give up so easily on her family, that _they_ hadn't given up on her, when his phone rang, his business partner's name flashing across the screen. His eyes darted between the phone and Lauren guiltily for a few seconds before Lauren sighed and told him to take it if it was important, mumbling that, as a nineteen year old, she wasn't a baby.

"I'm sorry," he told her, leaning down and kissing the top of her head as he walked past her. "Won't be long."

Left alone in the office, Lauren shook her head at the mess that had somehow built up since she had last been in there…less than twenty-four hours ago. She had to wonder how her uncle had managed before she took the job. Getting up, she made her way over to the cabinets and began to de-clutter them, enjoying how therapeutic being methodical was to her.

Leaning up on her tiptoes, she pushed the last of the heavy folders onto the top of the cabinet, her balance wobbling slightly as they started to slide forwards again. She managed to grab one fairly securely before it fell completely, but she knew the other one was fast becoming a lost cause; her fingertips just barely managing to catch it.

"Want some help?"

Lauren jumped, her breath hitching as she felt someone's presence right behind her, a hand reaching out and easily stopping the folder from thudding to the floor - or else onto her head - as her surprise caused it to finally make its bid for freedom. Taking a deep breath she turned, holding her folder to her chest as she looked up.

"Thanks," she mumbled slightly awkwardly, taken aback by the fact that she had no idea who this person was, even though he was standing so close to her she could feel the heat off his body. She had assumed at first, considering how muscular the arm that had reached over her had been, that it was either Tyler or Peter, but it wasn't.

He was taller than both Peter and Tyler, only by a few inches, and from what she could tell now that she was looking properly - and because his t-shirt left little to the imagination - definitely a little bit burlier.

Oh, and not to mention, definitely a _lot_ more attractive.

"No problem…" the stranger said, his dark, hazel eyes boring into hers. He raised his eyebrow at her and tilted his head sideways. "This is normally the part where you tell me your name."

"Lauren," she replied, shaking herself out of her stupor and moving out of his personal space slightly. She could feel his eyes on her as she relieved him of the folder he had caught, placing it, along with the other one, down on the desk beside them. Their fingers brushed together as they made the transaction, a spark igniting on her skin. Again, she shook herself, scolding her imagination for running wild.

"Joey," he announced after a moment of silence. Lauren's head snapped up again at this, the name ringing a bell. She was sure Jack's new recruit was called Joey. Joey Branning, if she wasn't mistaken. The one with the bad reputation. She didn't know how he had acquired said-reputation, but she had overheard enough of Jack's phone calls to know that he had one. He certainly looked the part, that was for sure. Boxing and reputation-wise.

"I didn't ask," she retorted curtly. Joey chuckled at this, his hand briefly rubbing the back of his head and ruffling up his short brown hair.

"Touché."

When, after another stretch of silence, it became clear that Lauren wasn't prepared to initiate any further conversation, Joey decided to make the next move, introducing himself properly, despite her apparent lack of interest.

"Right, well I'm the new contract," he said, looking slightly proud of that fact. "I was looking for Jack. And seeing as you are evidently not him, maybe you could tell me where he is?"

"He'll be back soon," she told him whilst she studied his face a little, trying to be subtle as she searched for the tiniest imperfection on it and getting annoyed when she couldn't.

"So, Lauren," he continued, apparently not bothered by her scrutiny of his face. At the sound of her name, Lauren's eyes snapped back to his, a blush threatening to colour her cheeks any second now. "Do I have to guess who you are or are you going to tell me?"

Lauren pursed her lips for a moment before she turned on the spot and walked over to the freshly-cleared desk where she sat down on top of it, swinging her legs over the edge.

"I work here," she explained. "Jack's my uncle."

"You box?" Joey raised his eyebrow at her sceptically, his eyes sweeping over her slight frame and lingering longer than was really necessary on her long legs.

"Carry on gawping at me like that and I'll show you," she quipped. She had already had Tyler leering over her on the way in; she didn't need another admirer, annoyingly handsome as he was.

"That I'd like to see," Joey remarked, nonplussed by her sharp tone, his eyes amused as he brought them back up to hers. "So, what then? You work in here?" He inclined his head to the office they were in.

"Yep," Lauren replied, popping the P as she did so.

"Interesting career choice for a young girl, ain't it?" Joey said, unsure why he even cared what this complete stranger did for a living.

Lauren didn't respond to this, and only just resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at his 'young girl' comment. She was under no obligation to explain herself to him, stranger or not.

"So, are you good?" Lauren asked after few seconds, staring at him seriously as she changed the subject.

"At what in particular?" Joey asked, smirking at her slightly. It was only slightly, and yet she definitely felt a bit flustered. She had to give it to him, he had the sexy-arrogance thing down to a T.

"You tell me," she said, composing herself quickly. "A confident man would have said everything. So clearly you're not as sure as you like to think you are."

Joey laughed at this, impressed that she was giving back as good as she got. Lauren's eyes found the dimples on his cheeks as he laughed and she had to force herself to look away, wishing she hadn't seen them. She didn't want to find him attractive _and_ endearing. Attractive alone she could deal with; Peter was attractive, for example. But add endearing in and now she had found herself…shivering because a boy with impressive muscles and a pretty face was smiling at her.

"That's not confidence, babe, that's delusion," Joey told her. He didn't even realise he had called her babe, but Lauren certainly did, and she certainly liked it too. Her breath hitching slightly as her eyes flitted back to his. "Words are cheap, see. I don't need to tell you I'm good; I'll just show you."

A moment of electricity-filled silence stretched between them, the atmosphere thicker than before as the double entendre of his words sunk in properly. Lauren's cheeks felt hot and her pulse had picked up more than she wanted to admit; his words definitely having had an effect on her. Joey watched, a grin spreading across his face as a smile briefly flitted across her lips, amusement and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on shining in her eyes. She managed to control herself though; straightening out her face and pinning him down with a steely glare.

"How very...ambitious of you," she drawled. Her words hung in the air between them for a moment before the infectiousness of his grin got to her and she laughed, smiling properly this time, something she didn't seem to do very often anymore.

"She smiles!" Joey remarked suddenly, feeling irrationally pleased with himself for being the reason her face had suddenly lit up. "I was beginning to wonder if you weren't human or something."

As fast as it had come, Lauren felt the smile slide off her face. Tearing her gaze away from Joey, she cleared her throat loudly and jumped down from the desk as she noticed, with relief, Jack through the office window, finally making his way back. Hating how much this stranger had affected her in such a short space of time, she pulled her jacket closer around herself, hoping to pull her walls closer on too.

"You can save your wondering, _babe_," Lauren told him suddenly, her tone biting. "And I'd deflate your head a bit if I were you; there are already enough egos in this place without yours added to the mix."

Before Joey could respond, or question why their banter had suddenly turned personal, the door opened and Jack walked in, stopping in his tracks as his eyes fell on Joey.

"Oh, you are alive then?" Jack said, walking round to his desk and sitting in his chair as he eyed Joey with a warning glare. Lauren lingered at the side for a moment, inwardly impressed, despite the many other things she was feeling, that Joey didn't seem bothered by Jack's cool greeting. She would never admit it to him, but she was actually pretty scared of Jack when she was younger, and still was when he was angry. "See, I just assume that if someone doesn't turn up on time, either they ain't interested anymore, or they're dead."

"Bit narrow minded," Joey retorted, pulling his gaze away from Lauren, a frown marring his forehead, before sighing and nodding once. "But, yeah, message received. It won't happen again."

"Good," Jack said, clapping his hands once and getting up. "Let's do a practice session then. Lauren, are you staying or going?"

"Going," she replied, turning away from Jack, ridiculously disappointed that Joey had got off relatively scot-free for being late. If he hadn't been late they may never have crossed paths, not for a while anyway, and she wouldn't have been made to feel, intentionally or not, like shit on an already shitty day. "See you later."

With that she breezed from the office, making a point not to make any eye contact with Joey as she did so and trying not to shudder as their arms brushed against one another's as she passed him to get to the door.

"She always that cheerful?" Joey asked Jack once Lauren had gone, still suffering a bit of whiplash from the speed at which her emotions had changed.

"Boxing is your concern, Joey," Jack warned him, frowning. "Not Lauren."

Joey nodded. It didn't take a genius to tell that the underlying message was that Lauren, or indeed Lauren-related-questions, were off-limits. For a brief moment he wondered why Jack seemed so protective of her, and what exactly had suddenly upset her so much before, but he got over it quickly once the gloves were on; channelling his thoughts entirely into boxing, and away from a certain brunette.

As for Lauren, she had bigger temptations to occupy her mind than a certain dimple-faced boy.

**A/n:**** Thoughts on the first chapter? What do you think Joey's bad reputation is? Why did Joey's words upset Lauren so much? **

**Hope you enjoyed reading - I'm always the most unsure about first chapters. x**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Mondays were always hectic at the gym. As well as the standard full-day training routine for Peter and Tyler, and now Joey too, they also had the amateurs in all morning as well as a school group in the adjoining, smaller gym. Needless to say, the coffee machine was much abused by everyone involved, including Lauren, who had done about as much paperwork as she could stomach by the end of the day.

Whilst she had dealt with all the forms for the insurance, she couldn't help but find her eyes straying into the gym as Jack put Joey, Peter and Tyler through their paces in their first work-out session. She had to scoff a little at how serious Tyler suddenly appeared to be taking every single circuit they did; apparently the competition Joey presented had lured him out of his comfort zone. And with reason too; Lauren was no boxing expert, but even she could tell Joey was good. Very good, in fact. And she hated that just a little bit.

Speaking of Joey, Lauren was feeling a bit uncertain about seeing him again after how she had left things with him the previous week. Over the weekend, despite her other problems, she had started to feel a bit guilty for snapping at him so harshly, even if what he had said had cut her a bit. She knew he hadn't meant it, and she had to remind herself of that.

He wasn't to have known that one of her biggest fears after coming out of rehab was that she didn't feel like herself anymore, like a person anymore, like she didn't feel human even. She had felt so emotionally drained after leaving that sometimes she really _didn't_ feel human; a shell of herself with nothing but a damaged liver on the inside. So for Joey to have pointed that out, even if said in jest, it had touched a nerve, and a sensitive one at that.

So far she had managed to avoid crossing paths with him for the whole day, and she was just congratulating herself on that feat whilst waiting for her coffee when his voice from behind her startled her.

"Hey."

Lauren's eyes closed briefly, mentally berating herself for speaking too soon and almost spilling the coffee as she pulled the cup with more vigour than was necessary from the machine. Turning round to face him, she tried not to stare at how good he looked in his boxing vest. It was difficult though, because she had to admit, he really did have glorious arms.

"Y'know, I'm gonna have to get you some sort of bell if you keep up this habit of sneaking up on people," she told him, inclining her head to one side as she looked at him, her lips pursed slightly. It wasn't a quite smile, but it was enough to make Joey feel relieved that she didn't seem to be in the same bad mood she had been in the last time he spoke to her.

Shrugging once, Joey moved so that he was beside her at the coffee machine.

"You know what they say," he began, starting the machine before leaning in closer to her and nudging her shoulder with his, a twinkle in his eye. "Float like a butterfly-"

"Sting like a bee," she finished over the top of him, laughing once as she did so.

Joey smiled at this; she really did have one of those faces that completely lit-up when she laughed. For the first time since Friday he found himself wondering how he had managed to upset her so much. She didn't come across as some sort of wilting flower, and yet he had definitely got her the other day.

It wasn't until the coffee machine beeped again several seconds later that they realised how close they had been standing and for how long. Looking away from each other, they both put effort than was necessary into stirring their drinks, their gazes anywhere but on each other.

"Listen," Lauren said, clearing her throat as she did so. Joey, who had started to move away from her, stopped and reclaimed her gaze. "About Friday. I'm sorry…about what I said about you having a big ego or something. I was having a bad day and…"

"It's fine, don't worry about it, babe," Joey assured her, cutting her off and holding his free hand up to her. "No offense taken. I was more worried I had offended you, to be honest."

Lauren brushed off the 'babe' thing this time, managing not to react to it, outwardly at least. She took a tip of her coffee before shrugging slightly, neither confirming or denying, Joey noticed, as to whether he had offended her or not.

"I'm still sorry," she admitted.

"Me too," he said quietly, holding her gaze. "I'm not sure what for, and I'm not asking either," he added, "but I am sorry."

Tracing her finger around the rim of her cup, she pondered for a moment how, for someone with what was apparently a bad reputation, he certainly wasn't as bad as he seemed. Smiling ever so slightly, she took a step towards him and nudged her shoulder against his, just as he had done to her moments ago.

"Apology accepted," she told him.

"I'm glad," he replied, his eyes twinkling again. "Thought you were going to knock me into next week with your amazing boxing skills."

"There's still time for that," she warned, resting her arm against his much larger and much warmer one and laughing again as she realised that her arm now looked like that of a child's. "See? _Clearly_ I could do just as much damage."

"You could do more damage than that idiot Tyler, that's for sure," Joey said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh dear, does the new boy not like his new playmates?" Lauren pouted as she mocked him, sniggering as a bit of sulkiness crossed his face. Muscles or no muscles, these boys were all the same.

"He's really grinding my gears," Joey muttered through his teeth, groaning as the sound of Tyler's voice filtered through the air. Apparently he was on the way for coffee too now, as a second later he crashed through the door alongside Peter.

"Alright, Lauren? Joey?" the latter asked as he immediately made himself a drink.

"Ah, I see you've met my girl, Lauren, here?" Tyler announced, slinging his arm over Lauren's shoulders who immediately cringed and stepped out of his reach, unintentionally bringing herself closer to Joey.

"Don't call me that, please," Lauren sighed whilst resigning herself to the fact that he was probably never going to abide by that request. "I'm not your girl and I never will be."

"One of these days you'll change your mind," Tyler continued, turning to Joey and rolling his eyes. "Girls, eh?"

"If she said no, she said no," Joey retorted, the sharpness of his tone causing Lauren to glance up at him from his side. She tapped the backs of her fingers against his to gain his attention and raised her eyebrow at him. He really was throwing his toys out of the pram because of Tyler, she realised.

"Hard luck, man," Peter said, intervening suddenly with a suggestion that they leave now, clearly trying to diffuse the sudden tension. Lauren gave him a grateful glance, walking over to the desk and reaching for her jacket,

"Why don't you come out with us later, eh?" Tyler asked, still determined not to give in to defeat.

"No thanks," Lauren answered, no hesitation needed. For one thing, they had been in this situation before, and for another, since being a recovering alcoholic, she had been going to counselling every Monday evening, and her next appointment was that night. Not that they needed to know that…

"Come on, Lauren" Tyler urged childishly.

"I said no," she sighed as she pulled on her jacket and made her way to the door, shooing the boys forwards in front of her...not that any of them moved.

"Oh come on, you never come out with us," he informed her, needlessly.

Peter mumbled under his breath at Tyler's unrelenting efforts, glancing repeatedly with a worried look in his eye between Tyler and Joey. Lauren frowned at this, feeling like she was missing out on something.

"Would it help you understand better if I punch you?" Joey spat before Lauren could respond, his fists clenched tightly. "She said _no_."

"Joey!" Lauren gasped, moving so that she was stood right in front of him and staring him down, hands at her hips, until he looked at her properly. "Look, thanks for sticking up for me, but I can fight my own battles, thanks." She tried to keep the slight sting out of her tone as she spoke, but she wouldn't deny that she wasn't impressed with how petty they were all being,

"If he wants to punch me, let him try," Tyler goaded, causing both Lauren and Peter to groan.

Placing her hand flat against Joey's solid chest op stop in him moving any further forward towards Tyler, she glared at both of them, quickly getting bored of the situation.

"_No one_ is punching anybody, right?" she insisted before either of them could retaliate. "You can save that for in the ring, yeah?"

Feeling Joey relax slightly under her touch, she let her hand drop, only a little bit reluctantly, from his front, turning and heading back towards the door where she stopped and motioned for Joey to leave first. He threw one last glare at Tyler before doing as she wished and leaving the room.

"Don't let him give you anymore grief, yeah?" he murmured as he passed her, his dark eye not dropping hers till she nodded. "See you tomorrow, babe."

Mumbling a goodbye whilst trying not blush from the whole 'babe' thing again, Lauren stared after him for a moment before turning back to the office where she found both Peter and Tyler looking at her with matching frowns.

"What's up with you both now?" she demanded, rolling her eyes.

"Just…be careful with him, yeah?" Peter said, his eyes scrutinising her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She suspected it had something to do with this 'bad reputation' of his, but what would that have to do with her?

"He's bad news, Lauren," Tyler told her, shaking his head. "He has issues."

Digesting that vague but interesting-all-the-same information, Lauren shrugged. It wasn't really surprising that neither of them liked Joey that much; he was a better boxer than them, and, from what Lauren had observed, had already gained a lot of respect from her uncle Jack. And as for this 'reputation', as far as she was concerned, it _wasn't_ any of their concern.

"Issues…" Lauren mused, biting her lip for a second and nodding her head, her eyes glancing to the clock on the wall which told her that her appointment to talk about her own issues was fast approaching. "Don't we all?"

**A/n:**** So, Peter and Tyler aren't Joey's biggest fans shall we say, but I think it's safe to say Lauren's a little bit intrigued by him. Or by his arms at least. ;) Do Tyler and Peter know something Lauren doesn't, or are they just being petty/overprotective?**

**Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews for the first chapter - I appreciate it so much. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you next time! x**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Over the next week few weeks, Jack felt his fears over whether his decision to take on Joey as a professional recruit was a good one or not completely dissipate. After the rockiness of their first meeting, Joey had kept his promise about arriving on time, and had put one hundred and ten percent into every single session and proving that his talent wasn't just words. Whatever had happened in the past, whether completely true or not, Jack was willing to move on from that and focus solely on the present.

As well as the hard work being beneficial for Joey himself, it was also doing the club a world of good on the whole as Peter and Tyler also started to up their game. Jack knew it was out of poorly concealed jealousy and not a sudden desire to better themselves - especially considering the fact that they now had to work even harder to claim the attention of his niece - but the reasons didn't matter. As far as Jack was concerned, the harder they trained, the better they would get. And they better they got, the more competitions they could enter. And competitions meant funding, which they sorely needed.

If the standard continued to rise at the pace it was going, he was looking into putting all three of them into an upcoming competition. He had entered Tyler the year before but they had had no success, so he was still somewhat on the fence about putting him up for it. But Joey and Peter would definitely be competing, what with them having started to work better together over the last few days.

As well as noticing a change in his other boxers, Jack also noticed a change in Lauren's behaviour. Where before she would merely come to work almost robotically, do her job, then go home, she was now becoming a bit more animated with what she did, taking a little bit more of an interest. It wasn't that she never spoke to anyone before – her and Peter got on fairly well, he had noticed – but she never went out of her way to communicate.

However when it came to Joey, she didn't seem to mind as much, and Jack wasn't sure how to feel about this yet. On the one hand he was glad that someone finally seemed to be managing to bring her out of her shell a little bit; God knows he had been worried enough about her since she got here, seeing that the bubbly girl he used to know appeared to be long gone. Other than going to counselling and going to work, she had pretty much isolated herself since coming out of rehab, so it was a relief to see her start to open up again, laugh, smile.

On the other hand though, he kind of wished it could have been someone other than Joey to have achieved this mean feat. He wasn't retracting his previous inclinations; Jack was prepared to leave Joey's the past in the past. But Lauren was a different matter, and he didn't want her getting hurt. He knew she was doing exceptionally well with her recovery, and he was endlessly proud of her for it, but a relationship with someone as complicated as Joey could throw everything horribly off balance.

To be fair to Joey though, Jack realised he was jumping the gun a lot. He had seen Joey and Lauren be nothing but good friends since they had met – unlike Tyler, Joey didn't attempt to coerce her into a relationship at every turn, for which he was very grateful. Jack couldn't know for sure if they even _wanted_ to be in a relationship with each other. And reputation aside, he had to admit he would much prefer for Lauren to choose Joey to Tyler, if not only for the fact that he got on well with Joey; he saw in him, in a way, a younger version of himself.

Whatever Lauren wanted, Jack knew he would be able to do nothing to sway her in either direction; Lauren only ever did what she wanted to do. For the time being he would just have to sit back and see what happens, and hope that she didn't end up hurt.

As for Lauren herself, _she_ didn't think she had changed that much at all. She still attended gruelling counselling sessions every Monday, she still struggled to have a pleasant conversation with her parents, and she still sometimes had moments where everything felt too raw, and then others where she couldn't feel anything at all.

The only difference was, perhaps, that she had started to enjoy coming to work a little bit more…which had _nothing_ whatsoever to do with the fact that she could stare at Joey, much like she was doing just then, as much as she liked from the office window… If anyone was to ask, her readymade rely would be that she was admiring his boxing skill. But really she was just admiring his very fine physique.

The sound of the phone ringing snapped Lauren out of her trance, a blush creeping onto her face as she realised that she must have been staring at him for a while now. She answered the call only half paying attention; she was debating at the same time whether putting some sort of blinds up might be a good idea because she really had to stop with this staring business…

Telling the person on the other end of the line to hold, Lauren got up and made her way out of the office, heading in the direction of the punch bags where Jack had kept Joey working for a good while now.

"Sorry to interrupt, ladies," Lauren shouted over the top of the sound of Joey's relentless battering of the punch bag, "but you have a phone call."

"Who is it?" Jack said, turning to face his niece as they stopped training.

"Someone from some sort of Boxing committee or something," she explained vaguely, trying not to stare, now that she was up close, at how disgraceful it was that Joey made being sweaty and out-of-breath look incredibly sexy.

"Probably about the competition, so I'll take it," Jack said, already making his way across the gym. He turned his head once he was at the door of the office and looked round at Joey. "And you're done for the day. Good work."

Joey merely nodded in response, ripping his gloves off and throwing them down onto the bench where he then sat down himself, his body still heaving from the workout. He leant forward, leaning his elbows against his knees as he ran his hands through his hair. Lauren tried not to gawp. She really did.

"Here," Lauren said, holding out a bottle of water to him that she had picked up on her way out of the office. "Thought you could do with this."

"Thanks, babe," he replied, grinning at her as he took the bottle, opening it immediately and swigging most of it down within only a handful of gulps. Gasping apparently wasn't the word.

"Y'know, if I were you I would just tell him where he could stick his 'another ten' punches," Lauren mused as she sat down on the bench next to him. There was no way in hell she would have done any of the horrendous routine Joey had just done looking even _half_ as worn out as he did.

"That's not really how it works, I'm afraid," he told her, chuckling slightly.

"It's a bit much though, ain't it?" Lauren pulled a face as she spoke. "I mean, he sent Tyler and Peter home ages ago."

"It's just practice," he shrugged, resisting the temptation to tell her that Tyler and Peter were sent home because they wouldn't have been able to keep up; he was determined not to sink to their level. "Besides, it's good. Normally when I train people want to rein it all in a bit…"

"How do you mean?" Lauren asked when he never picked up his trailed-off sentence. It had sounded like he was going to say something else but changed his mind. She watched as a look of a mix between irritation and sadness crossed his features before he composed himself, waving his hand dismissively.

"Doesn't matter," he concluded, sighing a little.

Lauren continued to watch him for a few more seconds before looking away, leaning back against the wall behind them as she lost herself in her thoughts. She cast her mind back to a few weeks ago when Peter and Tyler had warned her of his 'issues', as they had put it, and wondered if this reining in business was connected. Even if it was though, she wasn't going to pester him on it; she knew what that felt like, having people pester you to tell them things you don't want to.

"So, go on then," Joey said after a minute, breaking the not-uncomfortable silence between them. Lauren looked round, frowning slightly as she realised he was holding out his boxing gloves to her.

"What?" she questioned, confusion evident on her face.

Laughing under his breath, Joey stood up from the bench and held his hand out to her. Her eyes moved from his face to his outstretched fingers several times, trying to piece together what exactly was going on.

"Come on," he urged, his grin growing even bigger as she eyed the boxing gloves now.

"Joey, what are you…" She bit her lip unsurely, still confused.

Joey didn't respond at all, merely continuing to patiently hold his hand out to her until she tentatively reached up and placed her own hand in his. Lauren watched as his warm fingers closed around hers, the difference in the size of their hands almost laughable. Raising her eyes back up to his, she arched her eyebrow at him, challenging him. She was fairly confident the point of this exercise hadn't been to hold her hand, so she had to wonder what it was in store next.

"So…?" she asked.

"So…" he repeated slowly, tightening his hold on her hand before pulling her up quite abruptly, her breath whooshing out in a gasp as he did so. She hadn't _quite_ been prepared for how fast, or how apparently easily, he had yanked her forwards. "Show me what you can do."

Lauren looked up at him, only just realising how close he had brought her, his body only inches from hers. She couldn't understand why he suddenly seemed so much taller than her, or why his dimples seemed a thousand times more adorable than they already were when in close proximity. Her breath seemed to catch as she inhaled, her eyes momentarily straying to his lips for one, crazy second before flitting back to his eyes, which were boring into hers.

"I'm still not following," she told him, her voice quiet.

Joey laughed, bringing the hand that was still holding hers upwards and replacing his fingers with one of the boxing gloves as he let her go.

"Why are you giving me that?" Lauren asked, although Joey could see a little bit of comprehension dawning now.

"Put it on then," he prompted, inclining his head towards the glove. "I want to see these amazing skills of yours."

Lauren simply stared at him for a moment, shaking her head slowly as she thought back to when they had first met and she had told him she would punch him if he continued to ogle her, which, in retrospect, she wasn't even sure he had been doing.

"I'm not going to punch you, Joey," she said, pushing the glove into his chest and letting go of it so that he had to take it back.

"I didn't mean that," he replied, laughing again. "You can punch the pads. But it's nice to know you thought of me first," he teased her, holding the glove out to her again.

When he still didn't relent, Lauren realised that he was serious about this and smirked at him, raising her eyebrow as laughter bubbled in her chest.

"Aren't you worried I'll be better than you and Jack will drop your contract?" She managed to keep her tone serious even if her face wasn't?

"Deadly," he replied. "Which is why I'm glad there's a clause in said contract which states that he can't do that for at least a year. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this, clearly."

Lauren laughed, looking unsurely at the gloves again. It wasn't that she couldn't punch; she could. Jack had taught her how to defend herself sufficiently enough a long time ago. It was more that this felt so strange as a situation; having…fun, almost. Feeling a bit…carefree.

When she had drunk, she had done so in order to not feel anything. And once the drink was gone, the numbness had gone with it. Since then, she had struggled to enjoy _feeling_ anything properly anymore, and had instead, despite the efforts of her counsellor, put more effort into finding an alternative numbness than into reaching out. The nothingness had become comfortable, and everything else…not so much.

"Come on, babe," Joey urged, breaking her from her thoughts. "You've got fifteen minutes till this place closes to make me wish I had your skills."

Joey's smile slipped as he saw Lauren's face drain of colour suddenly, a panicked look in her eye as she suddenly looked at her watch.

"Oh shit," she moaned quietly.

If the gym closed in fifteen minutes, that would make it quarter-to six, because the gym always closed at six…the same time as her counselling appointment. If it was quarter-to now, that would mean she should have left fifteen minutes ago as she would never make it there on time any later. And if she arrived late it would go down badly on her record…the record which she had agreed to allow her parents access to, should they want it. It would be just her luck for them to ask to see them this week and for there to be something negative on there. She could barely wait for the smug phone call she would likely be getting if that were the case.

"What's the matter?" Joey asked as she began to stalk away from him without so much as another glance in his direction.

Lauren didn't reply though; horrified that she had let herself be distracted from her routine, from her recovery, from her nothingness. She felt a pang of regret for leaving Joey so rudely when he had started to become a good friend to her, but it was probably for the best.

Because when Lauren's issues started sinking the ship, they tended to take everyone down with them. And if the rumours, whatever they were, were to be true, Joey already had enough to deal with.

**A/n:**** Oh dear. So Lauren's beating herself up over being late to counselling because she spent some time with Joey rather than by herself. How do you think Joey will react to her pushing him away? How will Jack react?**

**Thank you SO much for all of your very lovely reviews so far for this story, signed and Guest reviewers alike - it's very much appreciated.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter - see you next time. x**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n:**** Apologies for the wait. It's been a very crazy week to put it mildly. But voil****à****:**

Chapter 4

On arriving at the gym the following morning, Joey immediately found himself searching for Lauren. Ever since she had ran out on him without even a goodbye he had been torn between feeling confused and concerned, and feeling like it was none of his business - if she wanted to be like that she had every right to be so.

All the same, rather than go straight to the locker room like he usually did, he went to the office in the hope the she would be there, and found himself inexplicably disappointed when he saw Jack sitting behind the desk rather than Lauren.

"What's up, Joey?" Jack asked, the tone of his voice making it clear that he wanted a very good reason for Joey not having gone straight into training.

"Er, it's nothing," he mumbled. Half of him wanted to ask where she was, while the other half didn't want him to come across as if he was stalking his coach's niece.

"Great," Jack replied. "So now we've had that thrilling conversation maybe you can get back to doing what I pay you for, yeah?"

"Right, yeah," Joey sighed, moving to leave the room before rubbing the back of his head as he hesitated again. "I was just looking for Lauren."

"She's not here today," Jack said simply. Joey lingered for an explanation, although it quickly became clear that he wasn't getting one when Jack went back to doing his work, already tapping away at his laptop.

"Is she alright?" Joey asked, not being able to help himself and ignoring the voice in his head telling him to just drop it. He barely knew the girl, after all.

"She'll be back tomorrow." Jack couldn't keep the sigh from his voice this time. He wasn't at all surprised that Lauren was the reason Joey was snooping around; he had seen them the day before whilst he had been on the phone, laughing as they mucked around. He had seen that elusive smile light up her face, and then saw it disappear as quickly as it came as she realised she would be late for counselling.

Jack felt guilty himself really; if he hadn't been so caught up thinking about the upcoming competitions he could've reminded her. But instead they had both forgotten, and Lauren ended up returning home that night in floods of tears, beating herself up as if she had fallen off the wagon. Jack had tried to reason with her that she should stop being so hard on herself; all that had actually happened was that she arrived to her session a little bit late and had struggled through talking about her least favourite subject: her parents.

But stubborn as ever, she remained inconsolable and barely slept a wink. So Jack had told her to stay at home for the day, warning her that if she came in he would have the boys drag her back home as part of their training exercise – she put up a good fight when she wanted to so he was confident it would be beneficial for everyone. Telling her this seemed to suffice, and also caused her lip to twitch slightly, a small smile threatening to break out for which Jack was relieved – his Lauren was there somewhere, it was just a case of finding her.

"That's not what I asked." Joey's voice pulled Jack back to the present. He looked back up at him and didn't fail to notice the concern on his newest employee's face. Yet again, Joey's interest in Lauren left Jack in two minds; always not knowing whether to do anything possible to discourage this relationship – or whatever it was – between them, or to let it be if it seemed to be bringing out a good side of them both.

"Joey, I told you that Lauren isn't your concern," Jack surmised eventually, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"And at first I accepted that," Joey quipped, leaning against the door. "But seeing as it was me she ran out on yesterday looking like deer caught in headlights I kind of feel like I have a right to know if she's okay or not."

Jack sighed again, closing the lid on his laptop and connecting his fingers together on top of it as he sat back in his chair. Clearly Joey wasn't going to give up on this now and he didn't know whether to be impressed or not by that fact.

"Look, if you really want to know, you'll have to ask Lauren when you see her," Jack said after a long moment of deliberation. If Lauren wanted him to know, he couldn't stop her from telling him. But he wasn't going to do the telling himself, especially not when she clearly hadn't wanted him to know the day before. "But for now, I promise you that she's fine."

Joey stood for a moment, before nodding once, apparently accepting the bargain and hoping that if he ever did see Lauren again she wouldn't run away this time.

"Right, I'll get back to work then, shall I?" Joey said, turning to go and stopping when Jack called him back.

"Before you leave, I've got your competition conditions and agreement forms here," Jack said, waving an envelope at Joey in his outstretched hand. "I want you to read through it properly and be sure of what you're agreeing to, right? Chances are you'll get paired against one of the best if you fight this one, so you've got to know what you're letting yourself into."

Joey took the envelope and stuffed it into his bag, ignoring Jack's stern glare. He would read it, but whatever it said, Joey would definitely fight in this competition; this was what he lived for.

"I mean it," Jack warned him. "Read it."

"Will do, boss," Joey said, slinging his bag back onto his shoulder and making for the door yet again.

"Oh, and keep it hush that I've given you that," Jack added, pointing the bag where the envelope was. "I still haven't decided on Peter and Tyler yet. If they find out I've offered to put you up for it first they'll start having tantrums and I ain't got time for that."

"Read it properly, don't tell the two Flower Fairies, got it," Joey mumbled before finally leaving the room, thoughts of competition meaning that his brain was no longer completely occupied by thoughts of what happened with Lauren.

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Later that night, having read and signed the contract for the competition, Joey decided to kill two birds with one stone and take the agreement over the Square to Jack in person. For one thing, it was the only way he could make sure Peter and Tyler knew nothing about it yet; Tyler had already questioned his "meeting" with Jack this morning like the nosey idiot he was. And for another, he was secretly hoping he might get to see Lauren…and that she wouldn't slam the door in his face…

And so he found himself waiting outside their front door, a smile creeping onto his face as he heard footsteps that definitely weren't Jack's walking towards the door to answer it. He heard keys turn in the door before it swung open to reveal Lauren, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a frown on her face as she saw the last person she had been expecting to see.

"Hey," Joey said softly, his eyes sweeping over her face and feeling an inexplicable rush of sadness as he realised she was crying, and clearly been doing so for a while. The girl in front of him seemed a million miles from the feisty one he had met not that long ago in the boxing gym.

"Hey," she croaked, wiping at her face, embarrassed suddenly at what a state she thought she must have looked. She suddenly wished she had taken Jack's advice and got dressed before rather than staying in her pyjamas and a blanket. Then again, she hadn't been expecting company other than Jack.

"What's with the tears, eh?" he asked softly, surprising both himself and Lauren as he reached up and gently grazed the back of his knuckles down her tear-streaked cheeks. It was bizarre if only for the fact that he was used to punching with them, not wiping tears away. He didn't even want to _think_ about how weird it made him feel emotionally.

"Oh, it's…nothing," Lauren stammered, partly because she hadn't expected him to ask, and partly because she was still reeling a little from the cuteness of what he had just done. So much for blocking him out, she realised. In any case though, she wasn't about to go into detail about the horrendous phone call she had just had with her mum…at the doorstep…with Joey…who she had vowed not to get any closer to barely twenty-four hours earlier.

"Yeah, it looks it," Joey mused, unsurprised that she hadn't suddenly decided to tell all. He didn't want to push her though; knowing that if she was anything like him, that just wouldn't work. "So listen, I just came to drop this off for Jack."

Lauren looked at the envelope in his hand and quirked her eyebrow up at him, pulling the blanket closer around herself.

"We have a letterbox for stuff like that," she told him quietly but with a pinch of her usual spirit behind her words. Joey smirked a little, nodding as she caught him red-handed.

"Okay, so I might have wanted to see you too," he admitted nonchalantly, holding her gaze as a small blush coloured her otherwise pale cheeks. "Y'know, after you ran out on me yesterday."

Lauren looked away from him for a second, a smidgen of guilt returning. In retrospect, she had decided that the way she reacted the day before wasn't really great; running away from Joey and telling herself she had to cut him out of her life hadn't made dealing with the counselling session or her argument with her mum any easier. Like Jack had told her, forgetting to leave on time was just a mistake, not the end of the world. It wasn't like she had ever done it before, and judging from how hard she took the beating from learning that lesson the hard way, she was unlikely to do it again. Plus, like her counsellor had told her, focusing on getting herself better, didn't mean that she had to cut all other people out.

"Joey, I'm sorry about that," she told him, her voice barely above a whisper. "I shouldn't have done that. I wasn't thinking…evidently," she added under her breath.

"No worries," he replied sincerely, waiting for her to look back up at him before continuing. "I just thought I had upset you…again."

"No, no, no," she said, frustration behind her tone. "It was me, not you. I promise. I don't want to talk about it right now," she told him, sensing his interest, "but I promise it wasn't you."

"So you're alright, yeah?" he asked, his eyes reading hers for a sign that she was lying to him.

"Yeah, I am," Lauren assured him. "Well, I will be. No, I am…I am…" She laughed suddenly at how ridiculous she sounded and rolled her eyes.

Neither Joey or Lauren had been aware that Jack had heard the majority of their interaction, neither of them having known that he was standing just out of sight, behind the living room door. He had to start at the sound of her laughing, having only seen her be practically depressed all day and night. It was like she would only laugh for Joey Branning of all people now.

And she was talking to him! Her answers were only a few words, but it was a few words more than she had spoken to him, or anyone else – not counting the disastrous phone call with Tanya - all day. Hoping he wouldn't regret the decision he was about to make, Jack made his presence known, walking into the hallway and coming to a stop behind his niece.

"Alright, Joe?" he asked, placing his hands on Lauren's shoulders which were still covered by the blanket she'd had wrapped around her all day. "Is that your agreement?" Jack inclined his towards the envelope in Joey's hand.

"Yeah," Joey replied, handing it over to Jack who took it and immediately placed it in his back pocket.

"What agreement?" Lauren asked, looking between her uncle and Joey, confusion in her eyes.

Jack had to resist the temptation to roll his eyes; she had been silent most of the day and yet _now_ she piped up when it was something he didn't want her to know about just yet. Lauren wasn't a massive fan of the competitions, and Jack tended to like to keep her out of dealing with them any further than with paper work. The stuff on the terms and conditions was bound to set her onto him like a rabid dog and have her tell him that he shouldn't put any of them up for it.

"Never you mind," you told her, squeezing her shoulder and giving Joey a look which read clearly that he was to keep his mouth shut and changing the subject rapidly. "Do you want to come in, Joe? Lauren had just brewed up when you rang the doorbell."

Joey looked as surprised as Jack felt at having extended this offer. The sound of Lauren _communicating_ with someone though had given Jack a bit of perspective, and if being in Joey's presence helped her, than who was he to stand in the way?

"Um, yeah sure," Joey said, looking to Lauren as if to ask her if that was what she wanted.

"Fine by me, New Boy," she said, pulling the door open wider so that Joey could walk in and feeling weirdly happy at how this awful day had turned out.

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A good hour later the tea had been drunk and the conversation which had been flowing easily between the three of them had moved inevitably, much to Lauren's horror, onto boxing. Having little to contribute to the conversation, she felt the exhaustion from not having slept the night before seep over her, the sound of Joey and Jack's voices slowly lulling her into a state of semi-consciousness.

It wasn't until she felt a pair of strong arms sliding her off the couch that she realised she must've actually drifted off. What confused her most though was that she could hear Jack's voice, but it sounded far away. Too far for him to have picked her up from the coach anyway.

"Jack?" she mumbled, her eyes fluttering open before closing again immediately as the sharp light hit them, groaning softly and wishing he had just left her undisturbed on the couch.

"Go back to sleep, babe."

It took Lauren a second to sluggishly realise that Jack never called her 'babe'; it was Joey who always did that…

"Joey?" she questioned, opening her eyes properly now and cringing against the light again as he walked them upstairs, pushing her face against his rather muscular shoulder. "What're you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" he questioned, looking down at her with a slight smirk on his face. "You fell asleep while we were talking, then Jack's phone rang and he told me to bring you upstairs so you wouldn't be disturbed. He didn't sound very happy with whoever it was. Max or someone…"

"Oh no," she groaned, knowing that news of the lovely phone call from before must have reached her dad now. "Don't want them to argue again," she garbled into Joey's jumper, her eyes closing again.

Lauren was torn between wanting to wake up properly and go and interfere downstairs, and wanting to fall back to sleep, preferably right where she was because she was quite enjoying being held by Joey like this…

"Babe, just go back to sleep, yeah?" Joey advised her as he pushed open the door Jack had told him would lead to Lauren's room and walked over to her bed where he lay her down gently. "You need to sleep; you look like a zombie."

"Charming," she muttered, snuggling under the covers as Joey pulled them over her and pouting a little at his words…and not at all because the loss of contact with those arms of his.

"Night, babe," he said, a slight hint of awkwardness colouring his tone for the first time that night. He had the strangest urge to lean down and kiss her. But he resisted it, putting it down to just…something unexplainable.

"Night, New Boy," she replied, bringing the covers closer around her and deciding that she didn't like them as much as his arms.

"What?" Joey said suddenly, having heard her mumble something that sounded suspiciously like something to do with his arms as he reached her bedroom door.

"Hm?" she said, and Joey could tell she was barely even awake.

"Nothing," he replied, laughing under his breath as he closed the door behind himself and made his way downstairs, letting himself out of the house so as not to disturb the argument which currently sounded like it was going on in the kitchen between Jack and whoever Max was.

**A/n:**** Do you think Joey did hear "nothing" about what she thinks about his arms or not? Honestly, Lauren. No verbal filter. :P**

**So they've patched things up a little bit, but Joey still doesn't know why she ran out on him, and Lauren still knows little to nothing about Joey. We have a rocky relationship with Lauren's parents and an impending competition coming up for Joey...which will all be drama-free, of course. ;)**

**Thank you so so so much for all of your reviews. I am literally so happy that so many of you are enjoying this story so far. I replied to the signed ones individually, but to those of you who are Guest readers/reviewers who I can't reply to: THANK YOU. 3**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you next time. x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Lauren didn't take any more days off after that one apparent blip; turning up for all of her shifts and being in a generally good mood for the most part. Joey did try on more than one occasion to find out what it had all been about, but reaped no success as she remained tight lipped and elusive when it came to answering his questions. The worst thing was that he couldn't blame her either; he wasn't exactly forthcoming whenever she tried to scratch the surface of his life before coming to Walford.

Well, no actually. The worst thing was that he still wasn't really sure _why_ he cared so much. He felt like there were two versions of Lauren Branning. There was the girl he met when he first arrived: feisty, confident and self-assured. And then there was another Lauren who was the complete opposite and seemed vulnerable, insecure and, at times, defensive.

When Joey had inquired the morning after he had gone round to see her whether the argument he had overheard was resolved now, the most information he had got out of her was that Max was her dad and that they – both her and Jack - didn't get on with him that well. Her vague response didn't really satisfy him, but the look on her face made it clear that it was all he was getting.

As for Lauren, her unwillingness to open up to Joey wasn't borne from her enjoying being mysterious or stringing his interest along; it was quite simply because she hadn't opened up to _anyone_ other than her counsellor about this stuff. She didn't really know how to. It didn't matter how many times her counsellor told her that it was merely a case of being brave and not being scared to be vulnerable – that meant nothing when it came to actually speaking the words 'I'm an alcoholic'.

She had hoped being honest and open like that with her parents would work, would improve their already ruined relationship. But it didn't. Instead they treated her like some kind of sick animal, always tiptoeing around her, talking about her as if she wasn't there and huffing and puffing about how awkward and difficult it is to have an alcoholic daughter.

Lauren couldn't tell Joey – Joey who she still didn't really know that much about – any of that. Especially as that was the nutshell version. So she would just say nothing. For now. For ever. Maybe….

Joey's interest elicited many reactions in her. On the one hand, she liked it. A lot. She liked how she felt around him, their easy friendship, and his arms…. On the other hand, the closer they got, the closer she came to feeling like it was all becoming a bit too much. She hadn't been in a relationship since before she had quit the drinking, and the prospect of having someone else in her life being that close to her, knowing everything about her, scared the living daylights out of her.

It was this problem that she had been mulling over as she made her way back to the gym after having been to a particularly positive group meeting with her counsellor and fellow alcoholics. She still hadn't managed to pluck up the courage to say anything herself yet, but she took comfort form listening to other people's stories. It was like people-watching but having them actually tell you things.

As she entered the gym she could hear someone hitting one of the bags and hitting it hard from the sound of it. Rounding the corner, her eyes fell only a _little_ bit greedily on the sight of Joey in the midst if one of his sessions with the punch bags, a million miles away, completely focused on what he was doing. It made him look even more attractive than he already did, much to Lauren's annoyance. His t-shirt left little to the imagination, showcasing his physique rather wonderfully and immediately taking her mind back to how amazing his arms had felt carrying her upstairs, even if she had been practically asleep.

Without really paying attention to what she was doing, she ended up walking over to him rather than to the office. She had excepted him to look up and offer some kind of sarcastic comment as was their usual routine of banter, but she realised that he obviously hadn't heard her come in what with him having his headphones on.

"I'd dread to think who or what you're imagining that punch bag is for you to hit it that hard" Lauren said loudly, finally deciding that she should probably make her presence known, as much as she was enjoying watching him in his element.

Knocked out of his focused reverie, Joey pulled his headphones off and turned to find Lauren stood just to the side of him, leaning slightly against one of the other punch bags as she watched him, a hint of concern in her eyes.

"How long have you been stood there?" Joey asked, raising his eyebrow at her as he took off his gloves and took a long swig of water.

"Not long enough to warrant a restraining order," she informed him nonchalantly, shrugging.

"You researched that then, did you?" he asked her, smirking at her and thinking back to the night a few weeks back when he had carried her to bed and overheard her sleep-addled mumbling over her…preference for his arms.

So far he hadn't told her he had heard her; sensing that the knowledge would be best saved as a golden nugget until it came in useful. It was just a case of waiting for the opportune moment. And as easy as it would be to bring it up right now, he was going to hold on a bit longer for maximum effect. He wasn't sure why it had made such an impression on him; girls fawning over his body tended to come with the territory of being a boxer. It didn't mean anything. And yet with Lauren…it did.

"I like to know my facts," she told him whilst willing herself not to blush under the force of his smirk. Really, he could fight crime with those dimples. "So," she said, clearing her throat and trying to clear her mind at the same time. "Just out of curiosity, what were you imagining?"

"How do you know I was imagining anything?" he deadpanned. He hated people answering a question with a question as much as the next person, but Lauren had been tight-lipped with him, so he wasn't about to spill-all to her.

"Well, that's what everyone does, ain't it?" Lauren replied. "When Jack tried to properly get me into boxing last year he kept telling me to imagine it was a bottle or something and-"

"A bottle?" Joey cut in, suddenly not following. He immediately regretted not holding his silence though as Lauren's lips snapped closed; it was clear that she felt she had revealed too much, even if he didn't get it.

There was a moment of silence between them as Lauren's face visibly paled, her eyes dropping to the floor which she now apparently found extremely interesting. Joey was torn between wanting to pull at the thread some more now that she had opened up to him – albeit accidentally – and wanting to make her feel comfortable again.

He went with the latter.

"So show me then," Joey said, holding his gloves out to her and keeping his voice fairly light to show her that he wasn't going to revisit the bottle thing…for now. "I think I've waited long enough to see you box."

"I'm wearing a dress, Joey," she told him after hesitating, pulling on the skirt of said dress as if to further prove the point.

The thought of punching something did actually sound quite appealing though after her little slip-up about the bottle. She didn't like it when things accidentally slipped out. Maybe it was the effect of the group session earlier, she thought, making her more loose-lipped. Maybe throwing couple of punches would help her get rid of the frustration. But it then again, it hadn't really helped that much when her uncle had tried to get her into it, so why would it work now?

"I can see that," Joey replied, taking a step closer to her and reaching for one of her arms. "But as far as I'm aware, wearing a dress won't affect the use of these."

Lauren merely stared at his fingers curled around her wrist for a long moment, trying not to over-think the current that seemed to be flowing between them.

"I haven't boxed for ages." She spoke quietly, finally looking up and meeting his eyes, shy all of a sudden. She had just witnessed how much it clearly helped Joey focused and she was more than a little bit envious that it helped him so much.

"Well it's only like riding a bike, Lauren," Joey assured her, pulling her even closer. He could see, as he had seen before, that look in her eyes that told him she wanted to try it and damn it he was going to make her act on it sooner or later. The feisty version of Lauren would enjoy it and the not-so feisty one would benefit from it. "So? Yes or no?"

"Are really giving me an option?" Lauren asked, smiling ever so slightly and trying to remember how to breathe with him stood so close to her.

"Of course," he replied, his eyes smouldering into hers. "You can do it now, or another day. But I will get those skills out of you, babe, mark my words."

"Okay, okay," she laughed, rolling her eyes at his triumphant smile. "Fine, yes. I'll show you how it's really done," she joked, feeling her heart skip a beat as his hand left her wrist in order to connect his fingers with her own. "But not today. Another time. When I'm dressed more appropriately."

Joey continued to stare down at her, both of them apparently in their own little bubble. They were both aware that feeling as comfortable as they both did with each other when they knew so little was probably not such a good thing. But it didn't seem to be stopping them.

"Maybe trying to get back into boxing will be a good thing," Lauren mused absentmindedly, not missing that Joey's eyes strayed to her lips as she spoke, his own seeming much closer all of a sudden.

"Did I hear that right?"

Jack's sceptical voice interrupted their little moment, causing Lauren to drop Joey's hand as if burned by it, both of them moving swiftly apart. "You want to try and get into boxing?"

"Um, yeah, why not?" Lauren croaked, throwing her uncle a weak smile and willing her cheeks not to flame.

Jack frowned, his expression making it clear that he was looking for the punch line, all puns excused. He had tried to encourage Lauren into boxing when she had first got here, knowing that it could be a great way for her to burn off some pent-up anger she had previously drowned in alcohol. But she hadn't enjoyed it that much and in the end Jack gave up trying to persuade her. Yet again, Joey seemed to be winning where he had not.

"You'll be coming with us to watch the competition next week at this rate," Jack said, shaking his head slightly in disbelief.

"I thought the fight was in two weeks," Lauren remarked, confused and hoping that she hadn't been putting the wrong date on all the forms.

"It is," he confirmed, nodding his head. "We're going to watch Joey's component fight in another competition next week though to come up with tactics. The guy's pretty new so we don't have much to go on."

"You should come, Lauren," Joey said casually as he started to collect together all his stuff. He wouldn't lie; he liked the idea of seeing her out of work and hopefully trying to get to know her a bit better.

"Nah, Lauren never comes to watch them," Jack cut in. Lauren never really did anything much other than go to work and go to counselling, nevermind watch boxing competitions. Jack would _like_ her to get out more, but didn't want to force her into doing something that would make her uncomfortable; she would do thing when she was ready.

"Well, maybe I'll come this time." The words were out of her mouth before she had even really thought them through. They seemed to come out as a reflex of realising how predictable she had become. "Break the cycle."

"_You_ want to come to the competition?" Jack said doubtfully. He would believe it when he saw it.

"_Me_, yes," Lauren mocked him, her hands going to her hips. She didn't know why she was pushing this _at all_ but it felt too late to turn back now.

Saved by the bell, the ringing of Jack's phone stopped him from testing how serious she was, and yet even as he turned to leave she didn't back down.

"Perfect then," Joey announced, before she could try to make her escape via him, smiling at her as he started to make his way to the changing rooms. "It's a date."

Lauren blanched a little at this. She knew that it wasn't _really_ a date from the casual way he had said it – and from the fact that, as a boxing match, it really, honestly wasn't a date – and yet she still, for some ridiculous reason, felt butterflies suddenly appear in her stomach. From excitement or discomfort she had no idea.

One thing she did know, however, was that had Peter or Tyler called it a date she would have shot them down immediately and confirmed that it absolutely was in _no_ way a date. And yet when it came to Joey…she didn't want to do that.

She didn't want to confirm that this non-date was indeed just that: a non-date.

She really had to wonder how on Earth she got herself into these situations.

**A/n:**** So, Lauren's found herself agreeing to try having a go at boxing again and to going to the competition. Has she really thought any of this through or is she just too distracted by Joey's dimples?**

**Thank you so much for all of your reviews for the last chapter - they are all very much appreciated. I'll reply to the signed ones shortly, but to the Guest reviewers: merci beaucoup! **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you next time. x**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**** I'm incredibly sorry for the long wait. So much is going on in real life at the moment that writing is having to take a back seat. Hopefully some of you are still with me though.**

**Chapter 6**

What with Joey's competition drawing ever nearer, his upped training programme meant that he still hadn't had a chance to make sure Lauren kept her word about trying boxing again. He had thought she would've been pleased about this, however she surprised both him and Jack – and herself, truth be told – by cornering him after work one night and asking him when he was going to train with her. She had developed a quiet enthusiasm for the idea of training a little with Joey, although which part of that actually produced the enthusiasm she wasn't sure.

Joey had been loath to shoot her down considering that _she_ had come to _him _but he didn't have much choice; whenever he wasn't training, Jack was going over routines and tactics and increasingly aggressive motivational talks with him. Not that Joey was complaining; it was nice to be treated like an actual boxer rather than a ticking time bomb.

Despite feeling slightly put-out that he couldn't try and help Lauren yet, he was glad she hadn't been put-off yet. Because if this was going to work for Lauren, she had to _want_ to do it for herself, not just for other people, and he had a sneaking suspicion that that was all she had been doing recently.

Not having had the chance to prove her uncle wrong yet about the training, Lauren remained insistent on her plans to go and watch the competition on the not-really-a-date date with Joey and everyone else. She wobbled a couple of times during the day, wondering whether it was worth the stress of actually going _out_ properly. Eventually though, she decided it would be worth it just to see the look of shock on Jack's face – which it was.

In fact, she was enjoying her achievement so much that by the time they arrived she was actually having a pretty good time. She hated to admit it, but maybe her counsellor had been right; going out would be good for her…even if it was to a boxing match.

"You sure you don't just want to go home?" Jack asked her as he, Lauren and Joey made their way inside what Lauren thought was rather shady looking gym. Then again, this was _boxing_, she reminded herself. "I don't mind running you back."

"If you ask me that one more time I swear to God…" Lauren groaned, rolling her eyes at Joey.

"Alright, alright," Jack appeased her, holding his hands up in surrender as he suppressed a smile at how much more _herself_ his niece seemed to be at the moment. Normally it was hard to get anything out of her, but here she was: chatty, brassy and light-heartedly fighting her corner rather than in floods of tears or completely closed-off from everyone and everything. "I was just asking. You sure you want to train with her, Joe? She might bite your head off."

"I'll take my chances." Joey laughed, continuing to joke with Jack until Lauren lost her temper with being at the expense of their humour. They wouldn't be laughing if she kneed them both where the sun doesn't shine, she felt certain.

"If you two don't shut it I might actually take boxing up again in the very, _very_ near future," she snarled, crossing her arms and sniffing indignantly.

"Good for you, Laur'." Peter's amused voice came from behind them as he and Tyler joined them in the main entrance. "Sort 'em out, yeah?"

"Just punch them," Tyler encouraged, winking. "Get some elbow grease behind it 'cause it's all in the arms, ain't it."

"It is for Lauren anyway," Joey replied suggestively, unable to resist the jibe. She still didn't know he had overheard her that night when she had revealed her specific interest in his arms; he was still waiting for that opportune moment.

"Excuse me?" Lauren frowned, looking at Joey from the corner of her eye and feeling that she was definitely missing out on something here. If his devilish grin was anything to go by anyway…

"Nothing, babe," Joey assured her, laughing softly.

Lauren threw him one last sceptical glance before looking away; partly because she didn't like being left out of the joke, and partly because she really needed to stop staring at his dimples. She really, really did.

As they made their way inside, Lauren felt her good mood sink significantly as she realised that it was busier than she had imagined it would be. A _lot_ busier. The entire place was practically full…of people and booze from the looks of things. She didn't realise boxing was this popular, or this much of a night out for people, for that matter. She tried to reconcile with herself that it probably seemed worse because she hadn't been out for so long, but that didn't really make it any easier. She suddenly felt very aware of herself and of other people and it certainly wasn't something she had been used to recently.

As her uncle veered off to sit down front, Lauren subconsciously moved closer to Joey who was walking just ahead of her. She was glad _he_ seemed to know where he was going because she suspected she would've been swallowed up by the crowd by now had she been on her own. In an attempt to get her bearings, she glanced round her momentarily, catching Peter's eye who was behind her.

"You alright?" he asked, smiling kindly.

"Mm hm," she replied, dropping his gaze and further closing the distance between herself and Joey, the tips of her fingers grazing the back of his jacket, just about resisting the urge to grab it. She wanted to - needed to - toughen up a bit, but her feistiness seemed to have been misplaced somewhere along the way in.

The closer they got to wherever it was they were sitting, the thicker the crowd seemed to be. Biting her lip, Lauren looked round herself again, perplexed at how popular this event was. She wondered briefly if Joey's fight the following week would be as much of a crowd-puller, and then realised how weird it would be to watch Joey box in an environment like _this_. All tense and…boozy. She felt uncomfortable to say the least.

"What's wrong with you, eh?" Joey's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She hadn't realised he had turned round to face her, stopping their progress so quickly that Lauren almost walked right into him.

Whilst she decided how exactly to answer his question – as she really wasn't sure – she watched, frozen, as he reached up and used his thumb to gently coax her lip out her mouth. It was an innocent touch, but it affected her more than it should have done.

"Do you wish you hadn't come?" Joey asked, frowning slightly. The genuine worry in his eyes made Lauren feel guilty; she felt like all she ever did lately was, unintentionally, make him worry about her.

"What? No, don't be silly," she replied, squaring her shoulders and smiling in what she hoped was a positive and not desperate way as she attempted to feign enjoyment. Just because she felt uncomfortable didn't mean she had to show it, right? "I live to watch cavemen beat the crap out of each other."

A shadow of a smirk graced Joey's face, but Lauren could tell that her pathetic attempt at humour hadn't convinced him. Repressing a sigh, she started to walk around him, wanting to just get out of this chaotic walkway, get to their seats and get this whole evening over with.

"C'mon, let's sit down," she said to him as she passed him, inclining her head to say that he should go first what with her not knowing where they were going. Before taking the lead, Joey gripped her shoulders from behind, squeezing lightly and leaning down so that his lips were by her ear.

"Relax, babe." His voice made Lauren shudder slightly, as did the feel of his fingers at her tense shoulders. Not being able to stop herself, she found herself leaning into him automatically. She could only hope that he hadn't noticed this though.

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"Do you two want a drink?" Tyler's called from the end of the row once they had finally made it to their seats.

Lauren froze for the second time that evening, watching as several people around her took sip from their beer bottles, Tyler's question ringing in her ears. If he wanted an honest answer, then yes. Yes, she did want a drink; a drink would have helped her feel much less like she was lost at sea at the moment…

But only by drowning her….

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Lauren cleared her throat and muttered a no to Tyler, not meeting anyone's eyes. She felt slightly relieved when Joey refused too; at least she wouldn't have to sit next to him drinking all night now. As Peter and Tyler left to get their drinks, Lauren sat back in her chair, turning to Joey in the hope of distracting herself from her own thoughts, however she was beaten to the mark by a guy who had stopped at the end of the row by Joey.

"Probably for the best, eh, Branning?" Joey turned towards the source of the voice, his jaw clenching as he did so. If Lauren was guessing, she would say that this other guy was a boxer too, and that neither of them were all that pleased to see each other. "After last time and everything."

"I'd be very careful what you say about that if I were you." Joey's sneer confirmed Lauren's guess; he definitely wasn't pleased. From the looks of things he couldn't go much further in the opposite direction.

Throwing Joey one last contemptuous glare, the guy turned and disappeared back through the crowd. Lauren frowned; what had been the point of that? They all certainly knew how to rile each other up, these boxers.

"What was that about?" Lauren asked, forgetting for a moment about her own issues.

"Nothing," he replied sharply, his soft hazel eyes surprisingly hard when they briefly met hers.

"Okay," Lauren sighed slowly, looking away and trying not to feel wounded by his rebuff; it wasn't as if she wasn't trying to make nothing out of something either.

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At some point during the boxing match Lauren had ended up holding Joey's hand, her fingers tightly entwined with his. She couldn't remember when exactly it had happened; she just knew that the feel of his warm palm against hers was the only thing keeping her sane by the end of the match. Everything about the evening had become too much for her; too much of something after months of nothing. Too much noise, too much emotion, too much irrational temptation to drink. Irrational because she didn't even really _want_ one; she knew she just _thought_ she did.

Feeling Lauren's grip tighten yet again on his hand as the match came to an end, Joey looked round at her, not needing to voice his question for her to know that he was asking her if she was alright. Her brief nod didn't do much to convince him though; her eyes were strangely glossy and she was still stiff as a board. Joey didn't know how to help her though; if she wouldn't tell him what was wrong, how could he?

Looking at the two boxers as the winner was announced, Lauren realised belatedly that she had barely paid an inch of attention to the game. A wave of disgust washed through her; was she really so selfish that she couldn't go out anywhere without having to make everything about herself? All she had done for the past God knows how many minutes was chew over her past and desperately cling to the hand of a guy who she couldn't even bring herself to _tell_ said issues to. It was pathetic really, she decided.

Her self-loathing reaching its all-time high for the evening, she allowed Joey to pull her up from her seat and slowly being to lead her through the mass of people all trying to leave at once. Peter and Tyler had gone to the opposite end of the row and so she could no longer use them as crowd breakers behind her meaning that the more she got pushed and shoved around, the more trapped she started to feel.

It was all too much. She wanted to leave. She wanted to never have agreed to this. She wanted to not have _wanted_ to agree to this.

She wanted to _not_ want a drink still.

She wanted nothing.

Feeling Lauren come to a standstill behind him, Joey turned to her, panicking slightly at how pale she looked.

"Babe?" he asked, pulling her into him, his free hand cupping her face as tears started to drip from her eyes. "Seriously, what's the matter?"

"I need to get out of here, Joe." Her voice was barely above a whisper; she was barley recognisable from before. "Now."

Joey frowned at her, swiping the pad of his thumb across his cheek as he wiped away one of the escaped tears. He had spent more of the night worrying about Lauren than about the tactics he was supposed to be coming up with, and yet he was still no closer to understanding Lauren Cross and how she could suddenly switch from being fine to _not fine_.

"Alright, it's okay," he murmured to her, bringing her into his side, his arm going around her shoulders as he lead them to the exit. He felt her lean against him heavily and tightened his hold on her, his protective side kicking in.

Once they were outside, Joey moved to pull away, however Lauren had other ideas, snuggling closer into him and pushing her face into his chest as she tried to stop the tears. Acting merely off instinct than anything, Joey wrapped his arms round Lauren, holding her in a tight hug and hearing her sigh slightly as he did so.

She had wanted nothing a second ago, but now that she was back in Joey's arms it turned out there was one thing she wanted: him.

"What's going on?

Joey looked up from the girl in his arms as Jack walked over to them looking concerned and somewhat annoyed.

"I wish I knew," Joey muttered in reply, brushing his hand over Lauren's back as she sobbed again.

"Lauren?" Jack said, stepping towards her and stroking the back of niece's head softly. He had dreaded the night turning out like this and had clearly been too optimistic too soon to have thought that everything was going well earlier on. "C'mon, let's get you home."

With much coaxing from Joey, they managed to eventually get Lauren into the car. Joey had been unwilling to leave her, but didn't want to tread on Jack's toes. Judging from Jack's reaction, there was clearly more to this situation that Joey was aware of.

"Did she drink tonight?" Jack kept his voice quiet enough so that only Joey could hear him as he closed the car door on Lauren who was staring dejectedly out of the front windscreen, Joey's jacket which he had draped around her on the way to the car pulled tightly around her shoulders.

"What?" Joey asked, confused as to why that mattered. "No. Why?"

"Doesn't matter. It's nothing," Jack replied, relieved. He didn't want to see how upset she would be if she _had_ drank. Clapping Joey on the shoulder, he walked around the car and opened the driver's side door. "Thanks for looking after her. See you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," Joey sighed, his eyes going to Lauren, concern washing over him as he thought through Jack's question, remembering how Lauren had mentioned something about imagining a bottle when she had tried boxing in the past, something clicking in the back of his mind.

Something that definitely wasn't nothing at all.

**A/N:**** So Joey's worked out Lauren's secret, but we're still in the dark about what happened in Joey's past! We'll see the action pick up a bit from now on as Lauren deals with how badly she handled her trip to the competition. But will we see them open up to each other?**

**Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews and interest in the this story - you are all just too wonderful. I appreciate your comments so much - makes my day to read them. :)**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter in spite of the long wait. See you next time. x**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n****: No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I have actually updated and I am truly very sorry for how long it has taken. If you're still with me, thank you for being patient and hope you enjoy it.**

Chapter 7

On his way to the gym the next morning, Joey found himself yet again mulling over the events of the previous night, always fixating on one detail in particular: Lauren. He was almost one hundred percent certain that his suspicions about alcohol being the problem she had been hiding were correct. And he was_ definitely_ one hundred percent certain that there was no way he could just blurt out that fact to her straight away…if ever. What difference would it make anyway?

So Lauren had some degree of a drinking problem? Did that change the way he saw her? Did it lower his opinion of her or make him not want to be her friend – if that's what he was, if that's _all_ he was – anymore?

If he was being honest with himself, no. Of course not. It would make him a pretty horrendous hypocrite if it did. Not that he had a drinking problem, but he had known someone who did. Not to mention the fact that he too had things he wished more than anything he hadn't done, or at least hadn't been involved in. And as his ex-best friend had so kindly pointed out at the match the night before, alcohol had indeed had something to do with one particular event which he would give his right arm to go back and undo.

Well, maybe not his right arm. Jack would probably be pretty pissed about that. Lauren too, actually.

Joey smiled ever so slightly now, remembering how easy the atmosphere between them had been the previous night, how much he had enjoyed winding her up and seeing her actually _smile_ again… before everything went wrong.

He wasn't sure – at the time anyway - exactly what had tipped her too far out of her comfort zone, but he had known something had been wrong before they even sat down. So when he had glanced round only a minute or two into the match to see her stiff as a board in her seat, eyes seeing things a million miles away from the match in front of her, he had been unable to stop himself from trying to comfort her. He had reached over and prised her cold fingers out of what was an impressive grip on the armrest between them and covered her hand with his, threading their fingers together. It had worried him at first that he had overstepped the mark when she didn't seem to react. However after a couple of seconds he felt her fingers wriggle against his slightly, her eyes flickering round to his as she inhaled deeply, looking slightly less all-at-sea.

Things didn't really improve from then on though; the night having resulted in Lauren breaking down in Joey's arms and having to be all but carried back to her uncle's car. It was as if she had caved-in on herself, something that affected Joey more than he had been prepared for it to do. Watching her just stare blankly as he and Jack tried to reassure her, only reap little to no success, wasn't what Joey had anticipated being the most frustrated about that night.

He _cared_, and he never cared. Not anymore. Jesus, he had even given her his jacket, finding himself unable to watch her shivering any longer.

And then it had all clicked as to why, when Jack had asked him whether she had drank anything. It all suddenly made a lot more sense. That night, as well as all the other times she had suddenly cut herself off from everything and retreated into an empty shell. Drink.

Joey was no expert, but to him it explained why she found last night so difficult, it explained why anything that broke up the routine she seemed to have created for herself here in Walford caused her so much panic, and it explained why she seemed so hot and cold sometimes. And it explained, of course, why he felt he couldn't just walk right up to her the next time he saw and tell her he'd figured it all out. She had been sheepish in the past even when she was being vague, so she was unlikely to suddenly open up just because he had by chance pieced together something she obviously hadn't wanted him to know.

So he wouldn't mention it, he had decided. He would wait for her to come to him, if she ever wanted to. And for some reason, he hoped she did.

Bringing himself back into the present, Joey knocked on Jack's office door, popping his head round the frame as his question tumbled from his lips without really even thinking it through.

"How's-"

"Lauren?" Jack interrupted him, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. He had been expecting this question all morning after seeing the way Joey had been with Lauren the night before. "She's fine."

"Really?" Joey responded, scepticism dripping from his tone. He had been there, he had seen how upset Lauren had been, and so he very much doubted she was now all fine. In fact, he very much doubted she had been _fine_ for a long time. The fact that Jack would claim that she was annoyed him more than it should have done.

Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. Lauren wasn't fine, at all. She had been up half the night after he had got her home, crying on and off, curled up on the sofa using Joey's jacket as a blanket and refusing to move or speak. How could he say otherwise without going into details though? And besides, he wanted Joey to focus on what he was actually there to focus on, not on Lauren.

"Really," he insisted, looking back up at Joey. "Listen, thanks for looking after her yesterday; I appreciate it. And I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I should've known it would end like that."

"I didn't mind." Joey shrugged. He tried to sound nonchalant, however the truth befell him one again that more than simply _not minding_, last night had been the first time in a long time that he had actually felt like he properly cared about someone else – including himself – in a long time.

Biting back the retort that that had been what he was afraid of, Jack nodded once. His niece has clearly made an impression his newest recruit, and vice versa. And glad as he was that Joey had looked after her, he had a feeling that if it weren't for Joey in the first place, she never would have put herself so far out of her comfort zone.

"Well, like I said, she's fine now," Jack said, ignoring Joey's scoff. "So _you_ can get to work now."

Sensing from Jack's tone that he had pushed the topic far enough for now, Joey left reluctantly. After all, he had yet to reveal to his coach how little of the boxing match he had actually paid attention to the night before and he was pretty sure that news would _not_ go down well. There was no need to test all the limits of Jack's patience on one day as far as he was concerned.

Joey spent the next fifteen minutes trying – and failing – to get his head back into the zone, something which really shouldn't have proved as difficult as it did. He kept wondering instead whether the dynamic between himself and Lauren would feel different on his end now that he knew about the drinking problem, even though it didn't especially bother him.

He needn't have wondered for long however, as a soft knock on the changing room door alerted him to the unexpected presence of the very girl he had been thinking about for the last twelve hours almost non-stop. And in immediate answer to his question: no, it didn't feel different. He still just saw the gorgeous brunette he had met the day he arrived here, not some walking bottle of vodka with a lot of baggage. He'd be one to talk, that's for sure.

"Hey." Joey closed his locker as he studied her face properly. She looked pale and tired, but at least she wasn't crying anymore.

"Hey," she said softly, letting the door close behind her as she walked across the room. Remembering what a state she had been in when he had left her last night she had to swallow back her embarrassment. Making it over to him, she hesitated briefly, then sat down on the bench, holding his gaze steadily.

"Should you really be here today, eh, Lauren?" Joey asked, still concerned even if she did look considerably better than she had done the last time he had seen her. "Y'know, after last night…"

"Ugh, don't you start," she groaned, leaning back against the lockers and crossing her arms defiantly. "I've just had all that from Jack."

"I take it you didn't listen then," Joey remarked, his eyebrow slightly raised.

"I _want_ to be here, okay? I'm perfectly capable of working. I'm fine," she insisted. It's not like that had never happened before, and to be honest, she knew that that wasn't as bad as it could have been…mostly thanks to Joey having been there, although she had no idea why. Granted it had never happened at a boxing match though…or in front of anyone other than her family…

"Fine, yeah?" Joey repeated, shaking his head as he sat down next to her. "Wish I could go from…whatever that was last night to_ fine_ as quick as you."

"Yeah, well, just got to get over these things haven't you?" Lauren mused, her words trailing off as it hit her yet again how her problem was something she was unfortunately never, ever going to completely get over. Little did she know Joey was thinking the same thing, but he didn't comment; deciding to stick with his plan of not throwing around accusations for want of pushing her away. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

After a good minute or two of comfortable silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts, Joey finally spoke, turning to look at Lauren as he did so.

"So, what brings you in here anyway?" he asked. Not that he minded her visit, of course.

"Oh, yeah, I came to give you back this," she said, patting the bench between them where Joey hadn't even noticed she had placed his jacket. She smiled slightly as he looked back up at her, her eyes wide. "And…to say thank you."

"No problem," he shrugged. "You were freezing."

"I don't just mean for the jacket, Joe." Her voice was quieter now. For a second she dropped his gaze, her cheeks reddening slightly. "I mean for…y'know…looking after me. I'm not normally that much of a nutter, I promise." She laughed nervously, knowing that there were many people that wouldn't agree with that statement. "Everything just got a bit much and…"

"Babe, you don't need to thank me," he told her, reaching over and lifting her chin so that she would look at him again. "And you don't need to explain yourself either. Not if you don't want to."

Just for a moment Lauren almost told him that she _did_ want to, for some strange reason, share what she was feeling with him. Maybe it was because of the way he was looking at her with those annoyingly intense eyes, or maybe it was the way that the feeling his fingers against her skin once more reminded her of him wiping away her tears the night before, reminded her of feeling looked after and…loved? However the words shrunk on her tongue, as did her momentary courage, and instead she merely smiled weakly, sighing as his fingers left her face, her head falling softly back onto the locker behind her.

"Thank you," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear her.

Yet again, they lapsed back into silence. Joey was torn between feeling disappointed that she hadn't opened up to him, but also pleased that she hadn't exactly said that she never would. And Lauren was replaying everything he had done for the night before, realising yet again how thankful she was and how much, context aside, she had _liked_ it.

"Joey?" she asked after a moment, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

"Yeah?" he replied, tilting his head to look at her and noticing the faint blush on her cheeks.

"Has anyone ever told you that you give very good hugs?" She managed to keep her voice fairly nonchalant, and Joey had to laugh at this.

"No," he informed her, attempting to be equally as offhand. She had told him she preferred his arms to a bed once, but he supposed that was different. And he was, of course, still waiting for the opportune moment to tell her that he had overheard that. "But it's good to know, babe."

Before either of them could say anything further, the locker room door opened once more, Jack walking through this time, an unimpressed look on his face.

"Are you two serious?" he asked, his tone as unimpressed as his face. "_You_ are here even though I told you to stay at home," he said, inclining his head towards his niece who merely pursed her lips slightly in response, "And _you,_" he looked at Joey now, "have a competition next week which you are _supposed to be training for_. I know the guy wasn't the best boxer I've ever seen, but once you get two confident, you've had it. Now, move it, both of you."

Not sticking around for them to argue with him, Jack swept out of the room, leaving Joey and Lauren to glance at each other, both smirking slightly at being told off. Joey didn't want Jack to think that he was encouraging Lauren to be anywhere she didn't want to be, but he was relieved to see a feisty twinkle in her eyes again. He didn't want alcohol – or lack of it – to take that away from her.

"So," Lauren said, clearing her throat slightly and feeling her cheeks turn pink again under the heat of Joey's gaze. "Is your fight going to be difficult?" It wasn't until she said it that she realised how much she actually hoped it wouldn't be. It was one thing to watch - or not watch, in her case – two strangers sparring, but to watch Joey? She wasn't sure she wanted to do that…

"Nah, it'll be fine, babe," Joey assured her, waving away her concern and immediately seeing that she didn't believe him. "Honestly. I've fought worse than him."

Lauren frowned at this. For some reason the idea of him fighting 'worse' didn't actually assuage her fears at all.

"Babe, I'm serious," he said smoothly, holding her gaze as he stepped closer to her, his hands going to her shoulders as he leant down so that they were level. "I'll still be able to give you one of those _amazing_ hugs after it, yeah?"

A smile crept up Lauren's face, against her better judgement. She had to bite her lip to physically stop herself from laughing. Avoiding his eyes she folded arms and turned her head to the side slightly because he was too charming for his own good and she couldn't deal with it. Once again, he had managed to improve her mood by significant amounts, and she hated him for it as much as she liked him for it.

"I never used the word _amazing_," she quipped, failing to keep the laugh out of her voice.

"I best try harder next time then, eh?" he replied, reaching up and pulling her lip out from under her front teeth, much like her had done the night before.

Lauren's breath hitched, as unlike the night before, she felt a spark between them, rather than the nothingness she had craved last time. Letting her eyes drift back to Joey's, she felt herself become caught up in the moment, several different emotions coursing through her.

"I'll make you a deal," Joey said murmured. Lauren's eyes fell to his lips as he spoke. Why did they suddenly seem so much closer? Had she moved closer to him, or he to her?

"Mm?" She forced her eyes away, back to his own. "What kind of deal?"

Joey paused for a moment, wanting to find the right words. He wanted her to know he was there for her, without having to tell her that he knew something she obviously wasn't ready for him to know yet. Or indeed that she had to tell him something she wasn't ready to tell.

"A deal in which, next time you feel as uncomfortable as you obviously did last night, you come to me and _tell me_ before you end up so upset, okay?" His tone was gentle but serious, and Lauren found herself nodding without really realising she was doing so, wondering at the same time if he would feel that way if she told him_ why_ she had been the way she was. "So? Do we have a deal?"

"Okay," she whispered, nodding once, a tiny hint of anxiety colouring her tone.

"You never know, I might even give you a hug," Joey teased her, trying to lighten the mood.

Lauren swatted his arm and rolled her eyes as she finally stepped away from him, pointedly ignoring his triumphant smirk.

"Honestly, I wish I hadn't said anything now," she muttered as she made her way to the door, wary that Jack would kill them both if they didn't leave sharpish. "Should've said nothing."

"No, you should always say what's on your mind, babe." His words were meant as a joke, accompanied with his trademark smirk, but he realised as he held the locker room door open for her that he actually meant them seriously as well.

Lauren, on the other hand, wasn't as convinced. For her, the previous night had been the prime example of what happened when she tried to go for something rather than nothing. That being said, she had recovered much better this time, and hadn't _really_ even come close to taking a drink. So maybe only time would tell…

**A/n: So, some of you guessed that Joey was an alcoholic too...but nope! We can cross that one off the list. That's not the history he's hiding. Better luck next time! ;)**

**Do you think he's right to wait for Lauren to tell him? Do you wish she'd have opened up to him then or do you not blame her for not being ready?**

**Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews - I'm amazed at the response this story is getting (slow as the updates are!) I replied to all of the signed ones (I think!), but to all of the guest reviewers who leave me such detailed comments, THANK YOU. I appreciate it A LOT.**

**See you next time. (Joey will have his arms out and his shirt off) :P x **


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